


my time to burn

by akamine_chan



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M, Podfic Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 04:31:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/569119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akamine_chan/pseuds/akamine_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They've been together forever, more than a decade now, his band, and he's sometimes amazed at how far they've come. And sometimes he wonders how they've managed to make it at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	my time to burn

**Author's Note:**

  * For [knight_tracer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/knight_tracer/gifts).



> I didn't know what to write for knight_tracer's birthday, in thanks. And I realized that when I think of knight_tracer, I think of _Discipline and Punish_ , which makes me think of Frank and Mikey. So I cruised the prompts at bandom_meme and found something I could write to...and texted Ande to give her a heads up. So, prompt is for a competency kink
> 
> Many thanks, k_t, for all the joy you've given me with your voice and your talent. Happy belated birthday!
> 
> Thanks to Ande for read through and for collaborating with me on this. Title swiped without irony from _Shine_ by the Used. :D

Frank closes his eyes and counts, _onetwothreefour onetwothreefour_ , quickly touches index fingers to thumbs, then middle fingers to thumbs, ring fingers, and then pinkies, before working his way backward. It’s part of his warm-up routine before a show, a way to loosen the muscles in his fingers and hands. Over the years, it's helped keep him dexterous and limber. After a few minutes, he taps each finger twice against his thumbs, the count still loud and steady in his head.

In the background, he can hear Gee humming his way through his vocal exercises, and the muted chatter of close to a dozen people. There's a thrum of excitement in the air, like there is before every show, and Frank wraps that feeling around himself, letting it coil in his belly. He still can't believe this is his life.

He opens his eyes and sees Mikey standing in the corner with his bass slung across his body. His hair is drooping into his face and Mikey tosses it back like he's in one of those tv commercials for hair products, all bright light and soft focus. Frank is _definitely_ going to give him shit about that later. Mikey catches him grinning and arches an eyebrow in question. Frank just shakes his head ruefully.

They've been together forever, more than a decade now, his band, and he's sometimes amazed at how far they've come. And sometimes he wonders how they've managed to make it at all. "Dumb luck," he says out loud.

"Hmmm?" Ray asks. He's sitting next to Frank on the couch, fingers picking out complex riffs on his guitar.

Frank crosses his arms over the body of his guitar and rests his weight against her. "Do you ever wake up and ask yourself how we got here?"

Ray looks around the room, at the myriad of people it takes to run their show, roadies and managers, venue staff, crew and tech, security and catering and drivers. "All the time, man," he says, tucking some of his hair behind his ear. “Because this? Is the best job ever."

Giggling, Frank bumps shoulders with Ray in agreement. "Yeah."

* * *

Frank goes back to Mikey-watching, which is probably one of his favorite things to do, outside of playing the guitar. And having sex with Mikey, but that's a given.

Mikey sidles up to Gee, bouncing a little on his feet, and says something that causes Gee to laugh his stupid dorky laugh. Mikey looks pleased with himself; he's happy when he makes people laugh. He looks down at the ground, shuffling his feet, but Frank can still see the smile on his face.

It makes Frank's heart flutter in his chest, like something soft and fragile is trying to escape.

He remembers when Mikey had first started playing the bass, and how gangly and awkward Mikey had been. Mikey had spent every spare moment practicing the same chords over and over and _over_ , worried about Gee leaving him behind. Gee never would have, even Frank had known that from the start, but it had taken longer for that knowledge to settle into Mikey's bones.

Mikey wraps his hand around the neck of his bass and plays a riff, quick and easy. The difference between Mikey-now and Mikey-then is striking. He's more relaxed, confident about his abilities to play his instrument. The stress and fear are gone, leaving behind the simple joy of music.

It makes Frank glad.

They've all changed over the years, from young punks to something more than just another band writing pop hits. Something that resonates with their kids and makes them _believe_.

If it ended right now, Frank thinks they could look back at their run and call it good.

But it's not going to end for a long, long while and in the meantime, Frank's going to smile stupidly at Mikey until they have to go out on stage and bring the house down.

* * *

The crowd is great tonight, bouncing and waving their arms around, screaming the lyrics along with Gee. Frank's hot and sweating under the lights, but it doesn't matter, he just closes his eyes and loses himself to the music. Ray's on fire, playing his guitar like his life depends on it, and when Frank glances over, he sees Mikey's hand fucking _dance_ across the frets.

It's mesmerizing, and Frank can't help but watch. Mikey's head is hanging down, hair in his face, but he's got the tiniest of smirks on his lips, so he knows that Frank's watching. He does a flashy move, sliding his fingers down and then back up, and he grins, because he knows what it does to Frank.

Frank's glad that he's not like Gee, prone to wearing the tightest pants ever created, because then the entire crowd of kids would see the boner Mikey just gave him by playing his bass like the rockstar he is. Frank laughs and jumps up and down in time to the music, like he's got springs for feet. He barrels into Gee, almost knocking him over before moving toward Ray, who sees him coming and braces himself for the shove.

The crowd just roars.

Giggling, Frank keeps the beat and moves toward Mikey, landing a kiss on his cheek. Mikey bites back his smile and Frank just mouths _love you_ at him. Later, after they've come down from the show high and are curled up in a bunk, Frank will make Mikey show him how good he is with his hands in a whole different way.

-fin-

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] my time to burn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/569139) by [Andeincascade (Ande)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ande/pseuds/Andeincascade)




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